Volume 1

On her way home from school one day, Noriko is unexpectedly plunged into a strange and extraordinary fantasy world. Her troubles compound exponentially when she is rescued and befriended by a handsome young man named Izark.

He may be brave and courageous, but inside Izark lurks the darkest evil imaginable. And according to an ancient prophecy, Noriko possesses the power to unleash that evil. Now, inexorably bound together, these two unlikely allies must navigate a world both wondrous and hostile.

Volume Description
Noriko Tachiki is discussing a frequent dream of hers with her three friends Rei, Hiromi, and Masako during their lunch. In her dream, she sees a beautiful world with flowers that have transparent petals, a stream running through the valley, a golden bird that is flying away, beautiful and peaceful animals, and a blue sky that is beyond description. She wonders if maybe she might have lived in this world during a previous life.

Later, as the four girls are walking home, a television in a local shop shows a newscast about a terrorist being arrested earlier that day. After interrogations, it was confirmed that the terrorist had planted several bombs around the city, and viewers are urged to avoid any suspicious paper bags that may be laying about the city. Noriko and her friends do not hear the report and are occupied with a small conversation regarding parallel worlds.

The other three girls tease Noriko over her interest in the supernatural, much to Noriko's mild annoyance, until a young child calls out to Noriko, asking for her to catch their ball, which has bounced toward the teenage girls. As she tries to catch it, the ball bounces against a small rock and ends up hitting a paper bag placed next to an electrical pole. Noriko, unaware that a bomb is in the bag, only has a few seconds to ponder why it's there until it explodes, destroying the surrounding area and sending her into complete darkness.

Noriko, now being pulled away from her world, sees where her friends are with the police sometime after the explosion. She tries to call out to them, but not only can they not hear her, but she's engulfed in a strange light. Now believing that she's only dreaming, she falls into some sort of slumber where she sees flashes of strange people and, though she can't understand what they're saying, she hears them excitedly announce that the Awakening has entered their world.

When Noriko awakes again, she finds herself in a strange place with soft golden moss underneath the roots of a large distorted tree. She pinches her hand, hoping to wake up, but to no avail. She begins to panic, crying out for her friends and then her family. Forcing herself to calm down, she retraces everything that had happened, remembering how she was trying to get that ball for that child. However, as she tries to remember the strange flashes she saw, she's attacked by a disgusting creature called the Flower Insects. However, as one lunges at her, a stranger appears and saves her just in the nick of time.

Horrified by what she's seen, she panics again, and this time unintentionally embraces the man who saved her. Realizing she's hugging a person, Noriko looks up at the handsome man who is only glaring at her. Noriko tries to apologize for her behavior but she quickly realizes that neither can understand each other and he isn't too friendly either.

Above the Sea of Trees, the place Noriko is in, soldiers are trying to figure out how to get into the Golden Nest, the area of golden moss. One soldier suggests landing their winged dinosaurs on the nearby rocks and traveling through the Sea of Trees but other objects, arguing that they would be attacked by the flower insects and that if they managed to kill one insect the smell of its blood would surely attract others. Just then the man begins outrunning the attacking fleet of flower insect, while carrying Noriko over his shoulder. Eventually, they fall into a pit beneath the Sea of Trees with one insect. The insect suddenly collaspes and the man says that the flower insects needed to live in the trees because that was where they got their strength, since there was no trees in the pit the insect that followed died. Noriko, not having a clue of what he said, tries to follow him when he starts walking away but trips and breaks down crying and falls asleep.

Noriko finds herself in her classroom, her friends trying to get her attention. Noriko glances around, confused, mentioning that she was in some other world to which one of her friends claims that she wasn't completely awake yet. Smiling at that thought, Noriko tell her friends about her disgusting dream of monsters and that she was scared. Relieved, Noriko wakes up only to find herself sleeping near the dead flower insect causing her to scream and nearly run head first into a stone wall. The man is the one to stop her from running into the wall and complains about her rash actions. Noriko finally sees that she isn't dreaming and is really stuck in some other world. The man pushes Noriko out of his way, complaining that she's in his way and he has things to do. He begins cutting the roots that were embedded in the stone and makes a raft out of them, in record time due to his incredible speed. Noriko, since she had nothing else to do, recalls what happened when she started to cry, remembering that the man stayed with her until she fell asleep. Noriko realizes that she's a bother to him and tries to make herself less dependant. Noriko decides to stay with him, taking her bag (that somehow stayed with her during the explosion) with her. While they are leaving the Sea of Tree through an underground river, Noriko tries to keep herself from worrying until she freaks out over the darkness of the underground. Annoyed with her loudness, the man ignites a torch and gives it to her so she'd be quiet. Noriko mentally questions how he managed to do that, taking in the fact that this man was not normal and wonders if everyone in this new world was like him. Noriko contemplates her situatin and decides she can trust the man. To show that she does trust him she kindly tells him her name, using her full name once then repeating her first name five more times. While doing so she points at herself and then points toward him to show that she wants to know his name. The man doesn't answer right away, as he notes that he didn't expect the Awakening to ask for his name in such a friendly way, then says that his name is Izark Kia Tarj.

Above the Sea of Trees, the soldiers from earlier have been waiting for their men to return from the Sea of Trees. One soldier notices that there were more winged dinosaurs heading their way and asks if they were troops from their country. However, this group (Guzena) only possesses six of the rare winged dinosaur species and this new group not only possessed more of the creatures but also stood while flying, a trait only seen in the mercenaries from Rienka. While the troops from Guzena flee, the leader of the troops from Rienka tells a particular soldier, Keimos, not to kill any of the fleeting troops so that they could be caught alive. The man spoken to chuckles and begins shooting them down with energy blasts. Meanwhile, Noriko and Izark jump off their raft due to the fact they were heading toward an underground waterfall. Izark finds this to be a perfect time for Noriko to change, giving her his clothes which proven to be big on her. Izark then takes her uniform and throws it down the water fall so that they could be disposed of without anyone knowing. He then informs her, noting that she won't understand him, that she is the Awakening and everyone wants her, in order for her to keep a low profile she'd need to get rid of everything she brought with her. He decides to let Noriko keep her bag but she chooses to let him throw it away, as she senses there is a reason he want her to get rid of it. Izark leads the way to the outside, away from the Sea of Trees, questioning how Noriko could possibly be the Awakening. He finds it hard to believe that Noriko is that Awakening and say that if she really is then he'd have to kill her.

Elsewhere, a group of bandits are discussing an attack they had on a young merchant, swearing they wouldn't let him leave their turf alive. Noriko and Izark attempt to travel using the trail on the mountain, however, Noriko becomes scared at cannot continue, forcing Izark to save her when she is blown off the cliff by a strong gust of wind he created. After their landing, they discover a destroyed carriage and its injured owner. While Izark is off gathering herbs to help the man Noriko waits and starts to feel depressed since she can't help out because she doesn't know how to survive in this world. Just then, the leader of the bandits arrived and begins attacking the injured man, slapping Noriko away when she tries to stop him. Before the robber can kill the man, Noriko screams for Izark and he arrived in the nick of time. But the robber is able to teleport using an animal called a Chimo, making it difficult for anyone to fight him, except for Izark. Izark uses his special abilities to catch the man and stabs him in the side. Caught completely off guard, the man runs away vowing to kill Izark later. Noriko is impressed with Izarks performace and begins clapping, Izark is confused but continues with helping the man. Izark makes him take some seeds with water and says that he will get the carriage repaired and have his horse ready for travel. Izark leaves the man to apply the poultice to his leg but since he's hurt he cannot do so with giving himself too much pain. Noriko offers to do it but while doing so the merchant asks if she's from one of the islands since she doesn't speak their language. Remembering that she still doesn't know the common tongue of Izark's people she decides to focus on learning the language.

The merchant questions how Izark met Noriko, mentioning how he had heard that a slave trader lost some of the island girls he had kidnapped but Izark denies that Noriko is one of those girls. Izark lies that Noriko and her family were traveling from their Island to the main land where her family met their demise, leaving Noriko to fend for herself until he came along. The merchant decides to believe Izark's story despite the fact he believes it to be made up. Switching the topic, the merchant offers to give Izark some new clothes for 150 zol, to which Izark refuses and changes the price to 100 zol. Izark decides to give the merchant his sword and keeps the sword left behind by the bandit. Meanwhile Noriko has changed her clothes and learns how to tie her stash from Izark. During their trip to the near by city of Calco a bandit sees them and reports it to his boss who is now patched up from his earlier fight with Izark. In Calco, Izark seeks the town's doctor and find that he has been tending to the wounded soldiers from the Sea of Tree. Unfortunately all but one have died and the survivor manages to tell them about the man who murdered his comrades. As it turns out, the soldiers had captured Rienka's dinosuars while they were in the Sea of Trees. When Rienka's mercenaries returned their leader, Agol Dena Ofa,  informs them that the Awakening had already been taken and Keimos decided to kill their enemies. Agol orders Keimos to stop but Kemios refuses and continues to kill. Noriko is frightened at the sight of the barely alive man and his dead friends but Izark informs her that such cruelity are everyday occurences, although Noriko has no clue as to what Izark had said. The doctor, after tending a bit to the merchant learns that Izark had actually managed to harm the leader of the robbers but just as he asks Izark if it was true the leader of the troops arrive. In an incredibly foul mood the leader begins causing a scene and demands to have Izark's group checked. Izark agrees and steps outside, with just a sigh he blows out all the street lamps and hides Noriko's belongings.

In Rienka, Agol explains why they returned without the Awakening to Lord Rachef. A nobleman named Elgo interrogates Agol and his young daughter Geena Haas, who had informed them that she cannot see the Awakening nor the Sky Demon. Elgo begins to mock Agol for being a coward and claims that his efforts to have Keimos as part of their mercenaries was for waste. Agol states that moving forward without a stragety wouldn't be smart which angers Elgo who views this as an insult. Rachef asks Geena what she sees when searching for the Awakening and she timidly replies just a swirl of colors and she's certain that no other country has found it yet. Agol mentions that whoever took the Awakening had to be an excellent warrior, as the flower insects have tough skin that is nearly impossible to cut with a sword. According to Agol, Keimos was bothered by this discovery and Rachef asks for Agol to describe Keimos to him since the two never met. Agol does so and admits that Keimos scares him and he leaves shortly after. Rachef decides he wants to met Keimos. During their leave, Geena mentions that Rachef scares her and Agol believes it was just his powerful aura. Geena then admits she was happy to come with her father since she is constantly left with her grandmother and barely sees Agol. Agol feels bad and wonders if he's doing the right thing.

Back at Calco, the townspeople are annoyed with the soldiers who are being reckless and ruining the inns. Izark sighs and the lights in the Inns go out, forcing the soldiers to be quiet. Noriko realizes that Izark was doing this and asks him if her suspicion is correct. when he tells her that he can't understand her she recognizes the phrase and tries to repeat it, succeeding slightly. Izark books them a room in a inn that still has some rooms still open and once inside their room he returns Noriko's belongings. Noriko mentions how when Izark disposed of her bag he motioned for her to take something out and she took out her notebook and a few pens. He also hands her the clothes she wore earlier to use as pajamas. Noriko decides to use her notebook as a diary that she plans to publish when and if she goes back to her world. The next morning Izark watches the soldiers leave and when Noriko awakes he suddenly falls.

Important Details

 * Here is where we are introduced to the strange language of Izark's world. They call water koko (a word only used once) and when instructing Noriko to change clothes and how to tie her stash Izark uses the words rewarf and sajitwarf enihan.
 * When the story begins, Noriko's speech bubbles had a single outline while Izark's had a double outline. This was used to show that Izark and Noriko were speaking two different languages. After Noriko decides to focus on learning the language Noriko's speech bubbles change, when she spoke in Japanese the outline was double and when she spoke Izark's language it had a single outline. This will be around for at least three volumes.
 * Though we see Rei, Hiromi, and Masako, we don't know which name belongs to which girl.
 * When Noriko is crying out for her friends and family, she cries out for her "little Bro" in the Viz Media translation. In a later volume, Noriko actually states that she had an older brother, making the previous statement either a continuity error or translation error.
 * The merchant Izark saves mentions that a slave trader had lost some of the island girls he had abducted, hinting that Noriko might have been one of them. This one of maybe three instances of potential sexual crimes against women.
 * This is the first time we see a chimo and its abilities.